The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Phlox plant botanically known as Phlox paniculata and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Balkapowibi’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Hem, the Netherlands during August 2013. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Phlox cultivars with attractive flower coloration, increased powdery mildew resistance and a compact growth habit.
The new Phlox cultivar is the result of open-pollination within an insect-cage environment. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Phlox paniculata breeding selection coded D05/VG16, not patented, characterized by its medium red-purple colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, compact-upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is one of four proprietary Phlox paniculata breeding selections, not coded, not patented, characterized by having different shades of red-purple and white bicolored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, highly-branched, upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated open-pollination during July 2014 in a controlled environment in Hem, the Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since July 2014 in Hem, the Netherlands and Elburn, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.